Ham Skin-Eater - Nature's Surgeon and Stockbreaker

Coleopterans or beetles are the largest group of insects. Among hundreds of families, skin-eaters are distinguished by a large number of species that pose a danger to food supplies, museum collections, textiles and other things of plant and animal origin. Representatives of the family are found everywhere, but prefer areas with a hot climate. On the Eurasian continent, the most common ham skin eater. Representatives of the species feed on various products, furs, leather and feathers.

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Ham skin-eater (Dermesteslardarius) - a beetle from the family of skin-eaters. Adults grow to sizes of 7–9 mm. The body is elongated, the upper part is convex, the lower is flattened. The pronotum is trapezoidal, widens at the elytra. The surface of the scutellum is black with sparse yellowish hairs.

The main color of the hard elytra is black, on the front of it there is a wide band of yellow-brown or yellow-gray hairs. It is limited to a winding line. Against a light background of the elytra, 6 black spots are clearly visible, 3 on each side. The dark part is covered with puncture. Well-developed wings are folded under the elytra in a calm state. Adults are able to fly over short distances.
The head is small, the eyes are weak. As can be seen in the photo, the ham skin-eater has short club-shaped antennae, which are attached before the eyes. Insects are characterized by a gnawing oral apparatus. The abdomen is black, each segment is covered with a border of red hairs. Legs of walking type with a five-segmented paw.

Interesting fact. Taxidermists use ham skin-eaters to make stuffed animals. Beetles carefully clean the skeletons of organic debris.

Lifestyle

Skin-eating beetles living in natural conditions play a significant role in the disposal of animal, bird, and insect corpses. They are beneficial, they process organic material, they are orderlies in desert regions. In the natural environment, a ham skin-eater settles in burrows and nests of vertebrates. It feeds on corpses and organic debris. The species is common in Europe, the Caucasus, Asia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic belongs to quarantine objects. Pests were brought to the USA and Canada.

The life expectancy of adults is 1 year. Favorite habitat - food warehouses. Insects find in food a sufficient amount of food for offspring.

Breeding

Kozheedy - insects with complete transformation. Beetles sequentially go through 4 stages of the life cycle: egg, face, pupa, and imago. Reproduction occurs in the spring at a temperature not lower than 16 °. The female lays eggs on a nutrient substrate. Fertility is 100-170 pieces. In warmth, the embryo develops in 1 week.

The body of the larva is cylindrical in shape. The end of the abdomen is narrowed, in the last segment there are two horn-shaped processes.The dorsal part of the body is covered with brownish-black stripes, the lower part is light yellow. Bunches of long hair are scattered throughout the body of the larva. The offspring is actively moving, actively around the clock. Development lasts 18-24 days. During this period, 5-6 links occur.

In the process of finding a place for pupation in an apartment, larvae can gnaw at a tree, books, wire insulation. Pupa yellow-brown, length 9 mm. Pupa stage up to 15 days.

Malware

The main damage is caused by the larvae of the ham skin-eater. They prefer food on jerky and fish, smoked meats, leather and fur, animal skins. Do not avoid grain products, animal feed, legumes. Beetles prefer foods high in protein, often found on animal feed. The leather-eaters who settled in museums or libraries spoil zoological collections, herbariums, and books. The apartments damage clothes made of wool, down and fur, furniture, carpets, food.

Interesting fact. The larvae of a skin-eater is able to spend up to four years without food, and then, once in favorable conditions, continue development.

Methods for the destruction of pests in warehouses

Pest control includes cooling and heating grain and its products. To disinfect products and storage facilities, fumigation and gas treatment are carried out. The grain is sprayed with contact insecticides.

How to get rid of a pest in an apartment

The appearance of beetles in an apartment is always an unexpected and unpleasant surprise for residents. How do skin-eaters get into the house? There are several ways of penetration:

• Adults fly into an open window or door.
• Larvae or eggs are introduced with contaminated products and things.
• With cut plants or herbarium.

What attracts insects? Of course, food. Beetles climb into the attics and basements of houses in search of dead insects, which are an attractive food. In addition to corpses, skin-eaters eat:

• products (cereals, meat, bread);
• fabrics of wool, felt, fur;
• glue used in the assembly of books;
• wallpaper;
• wood furniture;
• feather pillows.

In the process of development, the larvae can do significant harm to furniture, bedding, books, and food supplies. Beetles lead a secretive lifestyle, so finding their presence in the apartment is quite difficult. Usually, the owners notice traces of the vital activity of insects, which have become widespread. In products, wires, wood and fabrics, gnawed passages are found, as well as the remains of the vital activity of beetles.

Where to look for pests?

Having noticed skin-eaters, it is necessary to examine the alleged sites where adults live and larvae develop. More often than not, a hamskinner in an apartment hides in several places:

• shelves with books;
• lockers with cereals;
• places of storage of fur and downy things;
• leather furniture upholstery;
• departed wallpapers;
• baseboards;
• high pile carpets.

Methods of dealing with a skin-eater in a house

For insects, low and high temperatures are equally fatal. In winter, infected items can be carried outside. A steam cleaner will help get rid of bugs in furniture and bedding. Vacuuming pests from crevices in the floor and carpets. The complete destruction of skin-eaters will require the use of folk remedies and chemicals.

Chemical treatment

The use of insecticides specially designed to destroy beetles will help to quickly and effectively destroy pests. Preparations are available in the form of powders, emulsions or aerosols.

• Boric acid is an inexpensive and effective tool that is safe for people and pets. The powder crumbles in the habitats of insects: in cabinets, on shelves with books and clothes, under carpets.
• "Tsifoks" - the tool is used by professional disinfectors. Cypermethrin-based concentrate is diluted with water and sprayed onto the surface of the furniture, walls, and floor. It has a neuroparalytic effect on skin eaters, causing rapid death.The effect lasts about three months.
• "Sinuzan" - a drug based on chlorpyrifos has an intestinal effect on beetles, has a fumigant activity. The solution is prepared from a concentrated emulsion, sprayed in the foci of the accumulation of insects. The protective effect lasts 1-2 months.
• Aerosols "Raptor", "Clean House", Raid - ready-made products based on permethrin. Modern active ingredients in a short time destroy the larvae of the skin-eater. The drug is easy to use, easily penetrates into remote places where pests hide.
• Antimol, Nimol tablets scare away pests by smell. They do not eliminate insects, but help to keep things and furs from spoilage. Tablets are used as an adjuvant.

Attention. Before processing the apartment, children and animals must be resettled. Destruction of beetles is carried out indoors. After the procedure, the apartment is aired.

Folk remedies

How to get rid of a ham skin-eater without using chemistry? Folk recipes recommend using safe natural remedies. The scent of dried herbs - lavender, tansy, wormwood will help scare away insects. Plants are placed in cloth bags and laid out on the shelves of wardrobes. Equally effective is the use of essential oils - citrus, lavender, clove. A few drops of the drug are applied to a cotton pad placed among the fur products. Dry cloves will help prevent pests in the kitchen. Ground spice in a shallow open bowl is left on the shelves.

Kozheed in the apiary

A ham skin-eater often parasitizes in houses, pigeons, bird nests. He can settle in the hives. The main reason for the appearance of the insect is the poor maintenance of the apiary. Beetles are found in hives, where garbage is poorly cleaned. They feed on dead bees, wood frames, bee bread, the remains of cocoons. Kozheyedy destroy honeycombs, insulation material, harm the larvae. Often they are found with wax moth. The action of the parasite weakens the bee family. Keeping the hives clean, disinfection of the insulation, ventilation of the houses is recommended as measures to combat the skin eater. If bugs are found in the warehouse where the honeycombs are stored, it is necessary to carry out disinsection with sulfur dioxide.

Insect Prevention

To prevent the invasion of skin experts, spoiling expensive things, preventive measures will help:

• Regular wet cleaning.
• Installation of mosquito nets on the windows.
• Storage of cereals and other supplies in glass jars with a lid.
• Placement on shelves of cabinets of special products or bags of herbs that repel bugs.

With a small infection of the apartment by a skin-eater, you can cope with the destruction yourself. If the actions taken did not give a positive result, it is worth contacting specialists.